Some facts concerning the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University. Presented to a hearing of legislative committees. Albany, April 5, 1910

H

ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

New York State Colleges

OF

Agriculture and Home Economics

AT

Cornell University

S 537.NS6W37""'™'^">"-"''3'-y

The original of tiiis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

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Some Facts Cpncerning
The New York State

College of Agiiculture

At Cornell University
Ithaca, N. Y.

By H. J. WgBBER
Acting DirectoT

Some Facts Concerning

The New York State College of Agriculture

At Cornell University

By H. J. WEBBER
Acting Director

PRESENTED TO A HEARING OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES,
ALBANY. APRIL 5, 1910.

ITHACA, N. Y.. MARCH, 1910

JTHACA JOURNAL PRINT

INTRODUCTION.

Agriculture in the United States is advancing rapidly, and no-
where is there manifest more activity or more wide-spread interest than
in New York. This general activity is doubtless due largely to in-
creased cost of living and better returns from farm products. Farm
lands in the state are increasing in value and there is every evidence
that we are entering a period of great agricultural development and
prosperity. While New York is perhaps not so wholly dependent on its
agricultural interests as some of the western and southern states, still
it ranks fourth among the states in the value of its agricultural
products, having a total value in 1899, the last census year, of $245,-
270,600. Agriculture will always be the principal industry in the
greater part of the state and the foundation of its prosperity.

With the renewed interest in agriculture, increasing demands are
being made on the educational institutions of the state to provide
training in agricultural subjects. Farmers want their sons and daugh-
ters to take up farming as their life work fitly prepared for it. Farm-
ers themselves are demanding training in advanced scientific methods.
City men and boys in ever increasing numbers desire to go on farms
and are looking for places to secure the necessary training. The state
has adopted the policy of providing institutions where such education
can be obtained, having established a college of agriculture and three
special schools of agriculture, besides having begun the introduction of
agricultural studies into the common schools and high schools. The
state is now facing the questioii as to whether it will develop its existing
institutions to meet their immediate demands, or whether the progress
shall be arrested. The leadership in this forward movement should
rest with the State College of Agriculture. It must dispense informa-
tion and rouse the people by putting before them better methods and
higher purposes. It must find new truth and carry the discoveries of
investigators to the people on the farms. It must train teachers for
the teaching of agriculture in the secondary and high schools. Its work
must be constructive and it must point the way.

The New York State CoUege of Agriculture at Cornell University,
through its investigations and bulletins, its lectures and demonstrations
.with farmers, and its large number of students receiving instruction, is

rendering its best serTiee to the people of the State. If at has not met
all expectations, it is largely because its facilities have been almost
trivial as compared with the work it has been expected to do. The de-
mands that come to the College from the folks on the farms and in the
rural schools are far and away beyond the facilities for meeting them.
The capacity of the College for effective resident teaching is taxed much
beyond its limits this year in caring for the 968 students; and the
student body is increasing at the rate of 150 students per year. The
mere increase in number of students makes demands on teachers and
equipment that few persons understand. It is not merely a question
of finding a place where students may sit, but desks, microscopes,
special apparatus, animals, library facilities and the like.

The work of the College is for the people. It is the people of the
State that make the demands and the College looks to the people for
its support. To carry forward the work which is being crowded upon
the College in greater volume and with greater persistency each year,
greatly enlarged facilities must be provided.

Bills are now before the Legislature of the State providing for the
further buildings needed immediately, and for the increased main-
tenance which must come if the College is to meet the demands of the
state work. It is the purpose of this circular to state certain facts re-
garding the College which the people of the state should know.

Kegarding the work of the College, Dean Bailey stated during the
1909 Farmers' Week: "We are conducting reading-courses with less
than 16,000 farmers and farmers' wives in New York, yet there are a
half million such in the State. We are reaching at this moment less
than 7,000 teachers, but there are 40,000 school teachers in the State
and hundreds are being prepared each year. We are reaching 65,000
children this year, out of one and one-half million in the elementary and
high schools of the State. We are conducting demonstrations or test
work on some 300 farms out of the 227,000 in the State. We are teach-
ing one student for about every 500 farms. In this- College of Agricul-
ture, large as it has grown to be, we yet have less than one student to
each rural township in the State. There are probably more farm boys
and girls in any one agricultural county in the State than are now in
this College of Agriculture. All this is in spite of the fact that the
number of students is increasing so rapidly that we cannot properly
keep up with the work. The value of farm property in New York in
the last census year was $1,069,723,895. The money appropriated for
maintenance of college education in agriculture is about one sixty-sixth
of one per cent, of the valuation."

COMPAEISONS WITH OTHER COLLEGES OP AGRICULTURE.

The buildings of the College of Agriculture devoted to purposes of
instruction, for laboratories, class rooms and ofiSces, cost the State for
construction and equipment $340,000, and furnish 120,662 feet of floor
space. With the present attendance of 968 students, this gives a floor
space per student of 125 sq. feet. This is much less floor space per
student than is provided in any of the other State Colleges of Agricul-
ture that rank with the New York State College. As an illustration of
the space per student furnished in other State Colleges, the following
may be given, computed from statements given to the writer on a recent
visit to these colleges : Wisconsin, 208 sq. ft. ; Illinois, 305 sq. ft. ; Min-
nesota, 223 sq. ft. ; Iowa, 350 sq. ft.

The cost of the agricultural buildings and barns in all of the insti-
tutions mentioned in the preceding paragraph exceeds the cost of those
of the New York State College of Agriculture.

In the New York State College of Agriculture the number of regu-
lar long-course students and post-graduate students exceeds consider-
ably that of any of the above institutions, except Illinois, which has
only a slightly less number than New York. The higher grades of
students would naturally be expected to require more space for their
work than the lower grades.

The faculty of the New York State College of Agriculture, now
numbering 83 professors, instructors and assistants of all grades, ex-
clusive of student assistants, stenographers and workmen, is larger than
that of any other institution.

The Empire State should give more liberal support in the develop-
ment of its State College of Agriculture. Other Colleges of Agricul-
ture are forging ahead, and if New York is to keep pace with the
institutions in other states, and if it is to meet its own need for agri-
cultural education, greatly increased facilities will have to be provided
for the CoUege of Agriculture, particularly in buildings for laboratory,
class room, and experimental work.

ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OP

AGRICULTURE.

Cornell University is founded on. the Congressional Land-Grant
Act of 1862, and agriculture, therefore, has been a part of its work
from the beginning. In the early days of the University, the agricul-
tural teaching was given in a Department of Agriculture. In 1896 the
University was divided into eight "c^leges, of which the College of
Agriculture was one. By act of the legislature, Chapter 655 of the
Laws of 1904, approved by Governor Odell, May 9, 1904, the College of
Agriculture was established as a State Institution under the title of
""The New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University."
This act carried an appropriation of $250,000 for buildings. An Ad-
ministration Act became a law by the signature of Governor Higgins
April 12, 1906, and that year the Appropriation Act carried a main-
tenance item of $100,000 for the College of Agriculture.

CONTROL OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE.

The control of the College of Agriculture is vested in the Board of
Trustees of Cornell University. The State is represented on the Board
by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly,
the Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of Agriculture, ex-
ofScio, and by five members appointed by the Governor. The people are
further represented by the President of the State Agricultural Society
and by a Trustee appointed by the State Grange. Ten members of the
Board are elected by the alumni. The fifteen remaining elective mem-
bers of the Board are chosen by the Board itself. It will be seen from
the above statement that the State now has equal control with the
alumni in the government of the University and thus of the College of
Agriculture.

HOW THE COLLEGE SERVES THE STATE.
The New York State CoUege of Agriculture is endeavoring to serve
the agricultural interests of the State by the following means. All
courses in the College are free of tuition to residents of the State :

INSTRUCTION AT THE COLLEGE.

The Four-Tear Course in Agriculture. — This course is of equal

5

academic rank with other courses in Cornell University and leads to the
degree B. S. in Agriculture. It offers a thorough theoretical and prac-
tical training in agricultural and country-life subjects. The equivalent
of a high school training is necessary for admission. The following sub-
jects are offered in the college: — Botany, agricultural chemistry, soil
technology, plant physiology, plant breeding, farm crops, farm manage-
ment, horticulture, farm mechanics, farm practice, plant pathology,,
general biology, entomology and general invertebrate zoology, animal
husbandry, poultry husbandry, Sairy industry, rural economy, drawing,
rural art, home economics, meteorology, extension, and nature-study.

Rural Art Course, comprising the junior and senior years in the
four-year course, providing instruction in landscape gardening and re-
lated subjects.

Home Economics Course, comprising the junior and senior years in
the four-year course, with facilities for practical work.

Nature-Study Special Course. — For those who desire to prepare
themselves to teach elementary agriculture and nature-study. Open to
teachers or students in the University who are fitting themselves for
teaching. Two years.

Special Work in Agriculture. — For those who are unable to take the
full four-year course. There is no examination for admission, but the
students must have finished satisfactorily the common school studies.
Special students take those studies which will be most valuable to them
in the various departments, and which they are qualified to pursue.
This work is designed especially for those who wish to fit themselves
for successful farming, but who cannot take a four-year course. About
two years can be profitably spent in such work. The applicant must
present full credentials and testimonials, and each case is considered by
itself on its merits.

Winter-Courses, five in number : 1, General Agriculture ; 2, Dairy
Industry ; 3, Poultry Husbandry ; 4, Horticulture ; 5, Home Economics.

These courses are for 12 weeks, beginning the first week in Decem-
ber and closing the last week in February. Non-residents of the State
pay a tuition fee of $25.

Scholarships and Fellowships in Agriculture. — For Regular and
Special Students. The Roberts Scholarships are five in number for
students who show ability, tact and application, who are of good moral
character, who are in need of financial assistance, and especially for
those from rural districts. No examination is required and the value of

■each is $240. A fellowship worth $500 is awarded to the CoUege of
Agriculture and the Veterinary College combined.

For Winter-Course Students. — Twelve scholarships are given each
jrear by the New York State Grange. Value $50 each. Given only to
•Grange members, and to the twelve who attain the highest average in a
•competitive examination.

j\Ir. H. L. Beatty has ofEered for the year 1909-1910 a scholarship
of $75 in value, "open to any farmer residing in Bainbridge, or to any
^oy over 16, residing in Bainbridge, who shall have attended the Bain-
bridge High School for one full term."

INSTKUCTION IN THE STATE.

Farmers' Beading-Course. — ^For those who are unable to leave their
work but desire to learn. Practical bulletins on agricultural subjects are
periodically sent to the reader and correspondence is encouraged. These
■courses discuss : 1, Soils and Crops ; 2, Stock Feediag ; 3, Orcharding ; 4,
Poultry ; 5, Dairying ; 6, Buildings and Yards ; 7, Helps for Eeading ;
"8, ^Miscellaneous ; 9, Breeding; 10, Horse Production. Free to persons
residing in New York. Forty-seven such bulletins have been issued,
averaging about 18 pages each, and these go regularly to about 5,000
readers.

Farmers' Wives' Beading-Course. — These are popular bulletins
-discussing household economy, cooking, home furnishing, sanitation,
and the like. They are used especially in connection with a reading-
-course conducted by correspondence. Thirty-four such bulletins have
now been issued, having an average of about 24 pages each. These go
regularly to about 15,000 readers.

Nature-Study. — Extension work is conducted for teachers and
pupils particularly in the rural schools. One publication is issued in
the interests of the work, — the Home Nature-Study Course, quarterly,
following the State Syllabus. The readers of this course now number
-5,341.

Bural School Education. — Farm Boys' and Girls' Clubs are organ-
ized and directed in connection with the work in rural schools. One
publication is issued in the interest of this work, — the Cornell Rural
School Leaflet, monthly, for pupils, and a Supplement for teachers.
Twenty-seven publications have been issued in this series, averaging
-about 18 pages each. These go to about 65,000 children and 6,000
"teachers.

7

Co-operative Experiments in Agriculture. — The college co-operatea
with farmers in making experiments on their land that will be of direct
practical value to them. The organizations that are now co-operating-
with the college are: The New York State Experimenters' League; The
New York State Drainage Association; The New York State Plant-
Breeders' Association, and The Housekeepers' Conference.

Special Lectures. — Lectures are given, upon request, by members-
of the CoUege Faculty at such times and places as can be arranged, be-
fore Granges, Farmers' Eeading-Course Clubs, Farmers' Institutes knd'
other Agricultural Societies, Schools and Public Assemblies.

State and County Fair Exhibits. — The College, through an Educa-
tional Exhibit and Information Bureau, co-operates with the State Fair
each year, and with as many County Fairs as practicable.

Special Farm Trains. — Occasionally a "Farm Special" train is run
through a certain section of the State, and stops are made at previously
scheduled and announced places, where discussions are held. Three such
trains have already been run, and others are now under consideration.

Farmers' Week. — This is a week for the gathering- of farmers and
farmers' wives at the CoUege. Lectures and demonstrations by mem-
bers of the Faculty, by successful farmers, specialists and others who-
have achieved distinction in agriculture are given throughout the week.
The museiuns of the College and the University are opened, and the-
various departments prepare special educational exhibits. The Agri-
cultural Experimenters' League, the New York State Plant Breeders''
Association, the State Drainage Association, and various other agricul-
tural societies hold meetings here at this time. The attendance during-
these Farmers ' Weeks has ranged from 1500 to 2800.

Excursions. — A large number of Granges, Farmers' Clubs, and
other organizations come to the College during the warm months of the-
year. Meeting places and other facilities are provided for such agricul-
tural organizations which may wish to meet at the College, and aid is
given by furnishing speakers and demonstrations to make the meetings
profitable.

Bureau of Information. — Questions pertaining to farm problems,
are referred to various Departments of the College for answer. In this
way much information is given in a very direct and special way. About
40,000 such communications have been answered in the past year.

The Experiment Station. — The staff of the Experiment Station is;
endeavoring to solve some of the more pressing agricultural problems;

of the State. The results of this work are published in the form of
bulletins which are sent free to residents of New York State.

Up to the present time there has been issued from the Experiment
Station 273 different bulletins, giving the results of experiments and
observations. These had an average of about 24 pages each. The num-
ber of copies published of each bulletin ranges from 3,000 to 30,000.

Short circulars on agricultural topics, varying in length from four
to eight pages and in editions from 3,000 to 10,000 copies, are also is-
sued from time to time.

The size of the editions and the number of readers in each of the
series of publications of the College of Agriculture by no means indicate
the interest manifested by the people of the State in these publications.
It is necessary in all cases to revise and reduce the mailing list each
year. In the Reading- Course for Farmers, the publications are sent
only to those returning the question blank that goes out with each pub-
lication. For the Rural School Leaflets the mailing list is made up
entirely new each year from direct requests, yet quickly again reaches
the 65,000 to 75,000 limit.

It is believed that it is not too high an ideal to expect that at least
one of the bulletins illustrating the investigations of the College should
go into each home in the State interested in agriculture at least once a
year, yet this ideal is nowhere near accomplishment, and the funds
available for publication will not permit such a distribution. "With few
exceptions the editions of bulletins in aU of these classes are too small
to meet the demands and are soon exhausted; the available funds will
not admit of larger editions.

STUDENTS IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
The number of students attending the College of Agriculture has
increased very rapidly in recent years. During the first twenty years,
from 1868 to 1887, the total number of students in any year did not
exceed fifty in number. In the year 1892-3 the short winter-course was
added, and the total number of students reached 103. There followed
a gradual increase until in the year 1903-4 the total registration reached
296. In the spring of the year 1904 the College became a State institu-
tion, and an appropriation granted for the erection of buildings. As a
result the registration for the succeeding year, 1904-5, advanced to 418.
From that time the increase has been constant, and in the five-year
period since, the registration has more than doubled, being this year a
total, of 968 students of all grades. This increase is graphicnlly illus-
trated in the accompanying chart.

CHART SHOWING INCREASE IN ATTENDANCE FROM TEAR 1876-7 TO 1909-10.

The registration of various grades of students since the College be-
came a State institution is shown in the following table :

REGISTRATION OF STUDENTS FOR LAST SIX YEARS.

1904-5

Eegulars 98

Specials 90

Post-Graduates . . 31
Winter- Course ... 199

1905-6

1906-7

1907-8

1908-9

1909-10

129

145

209

272

419

95

124

138

144

120

40

36

43

58

58

253

244

270

364

371

Totals 418

517

549

660

838

968

The registration of Winter-course students in 1909-10 would have
been considerably larger had it not been found necessary to limit the
registration.

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS FROM NEW YORK STATE.
It has been stated that a large proportion of the students of the
College of Agriculture come from foreign countries and other states. A
correct idea of the distribution can be obtained from the following
table :

10

DISTRIBUTION OP STUDENTS

Students 1907-8

From New York 474

From other states 146

From foreign countries 40

1908-9

1909-10

610

706

188

213

40

.49

660 838 968

It will be seen from an examination of the above table that for the
last three years 72.6 per cent, of the students have come from the State
•of New York. It is important that the significance of out-of-state stu-
-dents be not incorrectly estimated. The number of out-of-state students
is one indication of the esteem ia which the work of the New York State
CoUeg6 of Agriculture is held ; and one of the most valuable features of
a large institution with a cosmopolitan student body is the contact with
persons from other states and other countries with different ideals,
practices and customs.

Moreover, a part of the support of the CoUege of Agriculture is
provided from Cornell University funds, and the University does not
■confine its activities to the State. No State College of Agriculture, so
far as the writer can learn, limits its attendance to residents of the
state, and it would probably be a mistake to ever make such limitations.

OCCUPATIONS OF FORMER STUDENTS.

The statement is frequently made that Agricultural Colleges edu-
cate away from the farm. A few years ago a tabulation was made of
the occupations of former students so far as they could be learned at
that time. The results are given in the following table :

n

OCCUPATIONS OP FOEMER STUDENTS OF THE COLLEGE OP

AGRICULTURE

Agricultural College and Experiment
Station Woi-k

U. S. Department of Agriculture

Farmers, Nurserymen, Farm Mgrs.,
etc

Creameries, Cheese Factories, etc.

Editors

Landscape Architects

Physicians

Students

"Miscellaneous

Died

CD

CO

03

(j

6
%

m

11
II

1
1

II

P4

%

s

s

«■

'o

.9"

lb,

CO

%.

^

fl<j

m

i?

8

36

8

53

4

15

6

3

3

8

3

1

3

3

4

35

34

45

46

176

1

3

156

3

1

1

1

3
9

3

5

7

3

1

5

78

68

4

5

11

13

11

5

6

1

1

5

6

7

5

4

isa

15

833

163

7

9

16

160

46

39

Of the total number of living former students Who were not at that
time in school and whose occupation could be learned, 71 per cent, were
in some form of farm work, 20 per cent, were in some form of agricul-
tural education work, or a total of 91 per cent, were either farming or
pursuing some line of work directly allied to agriculture. Certainly it
cannot be maintained that the New York State College of Agriculture
educates away from the farm. Moreover, the tendency toward the farm
is strongly increased. It is very doubtful whether any other type of
professional, or technical college could show a larger percentage of
graduates and former students who are following the profession for
which they prepared.

AH of our agricultural colleges, particularly those connected with
Universities, are influencing a very large percentage of their students to
pursue practical agricultural work. Of the 206 graduates of the Illinois
College of Agriculture, 113 are actually on farms and 82 in some other

12

form of agricultural work ; 95 per cent, are thus engaged in some kind
of agricultural work.

VALUE OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO THE FARMER.

In connection with the farm management investigations of the Col-
lege, some very suggestive evidence has been secured showing the money-
value of education in farming. In a number of townships all of the
farms were visited and accurate data obtained from the farmer show-
ing his income from his own labor. In deriving the farmer's labor in-
come, from the gross receipts there were deducted all expenses,
including those for labor other than that of the farmer himself, five per-
cent, interest on capital invested and a charge for depreciation in
apparatus, tools, etc. Record was also made of the highest school the
farmer had attended. Complete data were secured from 573 men. The-
results were as follows :

Number of Average labor-
farmers income

Attended district school only 398 $318

Attended high school or equivalent 165 $622

Attended college or university 10 $847

It might be assumed that these differences were due to the high
school men having had better farm opportunities. To eliminate this
difference, the farms were arranged in groups having equal capital:

Capital

2000

and

under

2001

to

4000

4001

to

6000

6001

to

8000

8001

to

10000

10001

to

15000

over

15000

Average labor income of

farmers with district

school education

Average labor income of'
farmers with more tlian
district school educa-
tion.

275
466
709
796
1091
1272

From this table it appears that in every group the men having the
highest education made the best use of their capital. From the first
table we see that there is an increase of $304 per year in labor income-
of those men who have attended high schools. Therefore we may con-
clude that "a high school education is worth more to these farmers,
than an endowment of $6,000 in 5 per cent, bonds."

13

ILLUSTRATIONS SHOWING THE VALUE OF THE EXPERI-
MENTAL WORK OF THE COLLEGE.

It is impossible in this circular to discuss in any detail the experi-
mental work of the College. The few illustrations given under this
heading, however, will indicate the general nature of the work and its
value to the agriculture of the State.

Experiments showing how dairying in New York may he improved.
— In 1873 the College of Agriculture owned a herd of ordinary cows,
the average yield of which was about 3000 pounds of milk per cow per
year. In this year, Professor I. P. Roberts purchased a pure-bred bull
and began to breed and grade up the herd, retaining the best animals
and constantly "weeding out" the less productive ones. This process
has been steadfastly continued up to the present time, with the result
that in the year which ended August 31, 1909, thirty-seven cows in the
herd of the CoUege of Agriculture averaged 7463 pounds of milk con-
taining 302 pounds of fat, and yielding a gross return of $120 per cow,
or a little more than double that yielded by the original herd.

What this would mean to the farmers of the State is seen from the
statement that in 1899 the average production of the cows in the state
of New York, as given in the United States Census Reports, was 4378
pounds. The methods employed in this improvement are those that are
within the means of any farmer or dairyman. No expensive animals
have ever been purchased, and practically all of the present members
of the herd have been raised upon the place. If aU of the farmers in
the State for the past thirty-five years had practiced these same methods,
the annual yield of the average cow. in the state of New York would
easily be twice its present amount.

The cow-testing work of the Dairy Department has enabled the
farmer to know the total amount of milk and butter-fat made by each
cow in his herd and the value of feed consumed by each cow. It has
been found in some herds that certain cows were not producing enough
to pay for their feed, while other cows in the same herd were producing
a return of over $50.00 in excess of the feed consumed. The informa-
tion obtained from this work enables the farmer to dispose of his poor
cows and raise the heifer calves from his best ones, in this way steadily
raising the productive capacity of his herd. The data on which the
above statement is based was obtained from the records of twenty herds
containing a total of 209 cows. The value of this work can be shown
by the following illustration:

The average milk production per cow in New York State is at

14

present not far from 4400 pounds per year. This average might easily
be raised to 7000 pounds per cow by adopting thie methods used in cow-
testing work. This would mean an average increased production per
cow for the entire state of 2,600 pounds per year. Considering the num-
ber of cows in the state to be 1,800,000, this would give an increased
production of milk of 4,680,000,000 pounds. Figuring this at $1.30 per
hundred, it gives an increased return to the dairymen of the State of
$60,840,000.00 per year.

Experiments showing how New York State butter-making may be
improved. — The results of the work in determining the moisture content
of butter wiU make it possible for butter-makers to produce a more uni-
form product which will bring a higher price on the market, and also to
produce more butter from a given amount of cream, thus giving the
butter-maker and the milk-producer an increased profit in two ways.
The profits of such work may be as great as indicated by the following
illustration :

Suppose a creamery receives an average of 10,000 pounds of milk
per day. The difference in the cash returns to this creamery resulting
from butter containing 14% of moisture as compared with butter con-
taining 9% of moisture, is equal to $6.30 per day or $2,299.50 per year.
This fact was determined by experiment.

Poultry investigations. — The Poultry Department has conducted
experiments which have shown

(1) That the practice of starving hens to force a molt results in
loss instead of gain, the difference amounting to 25c per fowl per year
(BuUetin258).

(2) That constitutional vigor is a vital factor in the successful
handling of poultry ; that it can be recognized by external characters ;
that these characters are hereditary and that the constitutional vigor of
fowls influences molt, fertility and hatching power of eggs, size and
vigor of chicks and prolificacy, amounting to twelve to fourteen eggs
per hen per year and 35c to 40c per year profit per hen (Reading-Course
Bulletin 45).

(3) That; the supplying of ground feed as a dry mash in the feed-
hoppers materially reduces the labor, increases production, decreases
mortality, and increases the net profits in the feeding of fowls (Bulletin
249).

(4) That chickens may be reared in flocks of two hundred by the
use of a gasoline-heated colony-house system, which reduces the cost of

15

the original investment and decreases the labor m feeding and brooding
seventy-five per cent. (Bulletin 246).

(5) A large number of labor-saving and sanitary poultry appli-
ances have been invented and given to the public, among which are
indoor and outdoor feed-hoppers, a combination refrigerator crate for
eggs and dressed poultry, watering devices, trap nest, etc. (Bulletin
248).

(6) Improved types of poultry houses have been adapted to New
York State conditions as a result of experiments with different types of
houses. (Eeading-Course Bulletins 16 and 33, and Circulars 1 and 3).

Alfalfa on sterile Mil lands. — The College farm consists largely of
a heavy, tenacious soil known as Dunkirk clay loam. This is a type of
soil that has been regarded as especially unsuited for alfalfa- growing.
About 1903, a study was begun to ascertain whether it is possible to grow
alfalfa on this soil, and if so, what treatment of the crop is necessary to
secure success. An acre of land was fitted and seeded in the summer of
1906. Harvests have been secured from it during the three succeeding
seasons. In 1907, the yield from one acre was 3 tons and 1500 pounds
cf well-cured hay ; in 1908, 3 tons and 500 pounds ; in 1909, 6 tons and
360 pounds, — a total of 13 tons and 360 pounds for the three years.

During this period alfalfa hay has varied in price from fifteen to
twenty-one dollars per ton. Figuring at the minimum price per ton, the
cash value of the three seasons ' product of one acre of land was $197.70.
Since the season of seeding there has been no labor or expense for fer-
tilizer given this land except in the harvesting of the crop. '

There has been expended for labor, lime, manuring and seed about
fifty dollars per acre. This, of course, is a large expenditure in getting
the crop started, but when it is considered that no further expense is in-
curred, except the harvesting, for a series of eight to fifteen years, and
with fair prospects of the average yields as they have been in the past,
it will be seen that this experiment demonstrates that there is a great
opportunity for financial success in growing alfalfa on this type of soil,
notwithstanding the natural difficulties to be met.

It is demonstrated by this experiment that to secure successful
alfalfa crops on Dunkirk clay loam, a very common type of soil over
about one-third of the State, it is necessary that the land shall be weU
manured the season of sowing, dressed with lime and inoculated by
means of soil from an old alfalfa field.

The use of lime. — Investigations indicate that in the neighborhood
of 75 per cent, of the farm land will respond profitably to the use of

16

lime. In many cases, its use is fundamental to the profitable growth,
of crops and necessary to the maintenance of soil fertility.

Onr investigations have shown that the use of lime by promoting
nitrification, particularly in connection with a legume, increases the
nitrogenous substance in both the legume and the non-legume, thereby
materially increasing the food value Of all these substances, and conse-
quently adding materially to the value of the crop.

Better yielding timothy. — In timothy-breeding experiments con-
■ducted by the Experiment Station, over 40,000 individual plants have
been tested and about 200 distinct strains have been secured. Some of
the best of the select types have in our experiments produced twice the
average yield of all the plants tested. As seed has been grown and
tested from almost every hay-growing section of the world, we are safe
in assuming that the thousands of plants which we have tested represent
the average of what would be found in ordinary hay fields. New York
is the first state in the Union in the nimiber of acres of hay, produced,
and in total production ranks first, with over 6,000,000 tons having a
farm valuation of about $70,000,000. The average yield per acre in
New York is 1.2 ton, which makes it rank forty-fourth among the
states in the average production per acre. By the use of these new
select strains the yield of hay would be increased at least one-fourth.
The importance to^ the State of such an increase will be clearly apparent
when the size of the crop is considered. Coupled with greater yield,
some of the new strains are resistant to rust and avoid the injury which
is produced by this serious malady.

Control of insect pests. — The life history and habits of the codling
moth have been exhaustively investigated and a definite and efEective
Tnethod of control demonstrated whereby hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars have been saved to the apple-growers of New York State.

After a careful study of the habits of the cabbage maggot, a remedy
was prescribed that still remains the most effective one ever devised.

The pear-tree psylla threatened the extinction of pear-growing in
certain parts of the State, but by a careful study of its life history an
effective remedy was found that saved many orchards. In 1892, Mr.
■G. T. Powell estimated that he lost 1100 barrels of pears through the
work of the pear-tree psylla. Other grx)wers lost in similar proportions.
The control of the psyUa saved hundreds of thousands of dollars to the
pear-growers of the State.

The investigation of wire-worms, the peach-tree borer, bud-moth,
rgrape-vine flea-beetle, grape root- worm, grape-berry moth, pistol-case

17

borer, cigar-case borer, apple-seed chalcis fly, and others have been car-
ried to completion and helpful methods of control have been devised.

In 1900 there were approximately 15 million bearing apple trees in
New York that produced over 24 million bushels of apples. Spraying-
for the codling moth is so universal and so effective in increasing the-
quantity and quality of marketable apples that if we were so conserva-
tive as to estimate an increased average income from each -tree through
spraying to be 25c, we should have a profit of more than $3,000,00&
accruing to New York apple-growers each year through the control of
this one insect as a result of the application of the arsenical sprays. The
first spray calendar ever published was prepared in the Department of
Entomology, and was of great service in diffusing exact knowledge of
the use of sprays against this and other pests.

Control of plant diseases. — Very marked advance has been made
in the control of many of the serious diseases which affect economic
plants in ^this state. The following are a few of the most suggestive of
these investigations :

1st. Black rot of grapes. Black rot is the most serious disease of
grapes present in the State. The grape crop in the State is valued at
$2,763,711. It has been found that the key to the control of this disease
is to spray before the rains and not after rains. The discovery and
demonstration of this fact alone is worth many hundreds of thousands
of doUai-s to grape-growers of the State.

2nd. Bean pod spot has been a very serious interruption to the-
bean industry, the annual crop of which in the State is valued at $2,-
472,668. It has been found that this disease can be practically con-
trolled by the hand selection of pods free from the disease for seed the
next year. This simple method will save the industry in this State.

3rd. Pear blight. This disease, which causes extensive damage to-
the fruit industries of the State, it has been found, can be practically
controlled by systematic inspection, removal and disinfection of dis-
eased parts. The demonstration of this method of control will save the
pear-growing industry of the State much money.

4th. Apple scab. The control of this disease, which means so much
to the successful prosecution of the apple industry, has heretofore been
effected by the use of Bordeaux mixture, which frequently causes injury
to the fruit. It has been demonstrated that lime-sulphur solution can be
used as a substitute for Bordeaux, is just as effective in controlling thg-
disease, and does not cause the fruit-injury produced by Bordeaux. It
is believed that this discovery alone is worth more to the growers of the

18

State than all the money which has been invested in the Plant Pathol-
ogy investigations. The application of this practice wiU make possible
a reduction of one-third the cost of spraying as given at present for
this disease. It has been found, furthermore, that the lime-sulphur
solution is a fairly effective treatment for peach leaf curl, which is also
a serious disease in the State.

What is the value of agricultural surveys? — The Agricultural Sur-
veys accomplish three important results:

1. They show in detail what are the agricultural resources of each
township, and enable the College to supply local knowledge in such
matters as soil adaptation, best rotations and most successful systems of
management.

Frequently certain profitable practices that prevail in one section
might be introduced to great advantage in another section which has the
same natural conditions but where these practices have not been tried.
The drainage of muck lands and the growing of truck crops on them is
a very profitable system of farming. It is practiced in only a few iso-
lated sections of the State. There are many other localities in which
muck lands just as favorably situated may be found. A considerable
area of the State, including some of what is known as the "abandoned
farm" land in the southern part, is just as well adapted and located so
far as soil, climate and railroads are concerned, for the production' of
apples as are Niagara, Orleans, Monroe or Wayne Counties. The fact
that the soils of the cheap hill lands are weU adapted to potatoes has,
been brought out by a survey. As a result of detailed knowledge of
this sort gained in the surveys, the College is recommending and. en-
couraging the adoption of these and other systems of f anding wherever
conditions are favorable and where, they will pay better than the sys-
tems previously in vogue.

2. They supply material for studies of farm management. They
enable the College to determine what are the factors conditioning suc-
cess or failure.

The surveys have shown a striking relationship between the size of
farms and profits. Contrary to the old impression that a "little farm
weU. tilled" yielded the greatest profits, the surveys have proved con-
clusively that for general farming in the regions surveyed the largest
farms are paying best. They have also shown that in spite of the high
wages demanded for labor, the most successful farmers hire the most
help. A study of the most successful farms upsets the old teaching that
dairy farmers should raise their own grain and that they cannot afford

19

to raise their own stock. These most successful farmers buy the most
grain and raise their own stock. The amount of capital, machinery,
and the number of horses, all have a direct relationship to profits. The
surveys show why some farms are successful and why others are not.

3. They furnish the results of hundreds of experiments more
cheaply than the College can conduct one. They show the relative
productiveness of the various types of soils, the efficiency of different
rotation systems, the comparative production of different breeds of
dairy cattle, the effect of topography on crop production, and many
other relationships, not in one instance under one set of conditions but
on hundreds of farms and under a great variety of conditions.

Soil surveys. — The intelligent development of farm land must take
into account the character of the soil and is determined by it. The soil
survey, by determining the character of soils and their relation to
crops and management on the one hand, outlines the problems confront-
ing the farmer, and, on the othfer hand, presents them to the Experiment
Stations for their solution in a manner which makes for most rapid
progress. "With the large number of farms which are offered for sale or '
exchange in New York State, the soil survey is the only reliable and
thorough method by which the true values of such farms may be com-
pared and studied.

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